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Car #1
Make
Model
Variant
Engine
Car #2
Make
Model
Variant
Engine

compare selected cars
2001. - 2005.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear
Badges
Production
Vehicle class
Body style
Wheel drive
Safety
2000. - 2004.
D - Large family car
sedan, 4 door
rear

Marketing

Dimensons & Outlines

4471 mm
1739 mm
1415 mm
440 liters
440 liters
63 liters
Length
Width
Height
Boot (min)
Boot (max)
Fuel tank
4526 mm
1728 mm
1426 mm
455 liters
455 liters
62 liters
2001 BMW 3 Series
2000 Mercedes Benz C

Engine

Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
1995 cc
116 hp
280 Nm
Engine
Fuel
Configuration
Aspiration
Displacement
Power
Torque
Mercedes Benz
2.1 OM611 DE22 LA LP
Diesel
4 - Inline, 4 valves per cylinder
Turbo
2148 cc
116 hp
250 Nm

Performance (manual gearbox)

manual gearbox - 5 gears
1370 kg
10.7 s
204 km/h
7.4 l/100km
4.5 l/100km
5.6 l/100km
149 g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
manual gearbox - 6 gears
1405 kg
12.1 s
203 km/h
8.7 l/100km
4.6 l/100km
6.1 l/100km
161 g/km

Performance (automatic gearbox)

automatic - 5 gears
1400 kg
11.3 s
199 km/h
9.1 l/100km
5.5 l/100km
6.8 l/100km
g/km
Gearbox type
Vehicle weight
Acc. 0-100
Top speed
Cons. (urban)
Cons. (highway)
Cons. (average)
CO2 emissions
automatic - 5 gears
1405 kg
12.1 s
198 km/h
9.4 l/100km
5.1 l/100km
6.7 l/100km
177 g/km

Expenses

1700 EUR
Price from
1300 EUR

Virtual Adviser's™ opinion

Overview

Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the large family car segment and utilize the same 4-door sedan body style and the rear wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific diesel engine choice they offer. The first one has a BMW-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 116hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 116hp engine designed by Mercedes Benz.

Safety

The first thing to look into here would be the results from European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP) tests performed on the two cars. Good thing is that both vehicles got tested, with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the large family car segment, which is generally a good thing safety-wise, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, if we'd like to consider vehicle mass in this context too, which we definitely should, Mercedes Benz C offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

Reliability

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that both brands display similar results in faults and breakdowns, at least on all of the models level. These are the official statistics, while our visitors describe reliability of BMW with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Mercedes Benz badge with 4.4 out of 5. The same official information place 3 Series as average reliability-wise, and C is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as 3 Series rank it on average as 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.4 out of 5.

Performance & Fuel economy

BMW is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.4 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 204 kilometers per hour, 1km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 5.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (48 mpg), in combined cycle.


Verdict

BMW appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Mercedes Benz C offers slightly better overall protection and takes the lead. From there things take a different direction, with BMW being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! I believe that, when we take all into account, we have only one winner here - the BMW. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. Also, you could use the oportunity to find out which car, everything taken into account, would be the perfect choice for you in the eyes of the virtual adviser, among more than 12.000 different ones in our database.

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